The ASP Feeling

The winding roads in Kentucky, beaming sun on the worksite, smiles from the homeowners, late night ice cream trips, bright sky full of stars, piles of work boots, five minute showers, late night conversations, laughing in the back of the van. How do you explain something that a person can only experience to understand?

For my first year, the one thing I noticed was that everyone was in on a secret. Whenever I asked someone about the trip and if I was going to enjoy it, they would return my question with a warm smile knowing that I’d be in on the secret when the trip was over. No one tapped my shoulder and whispered in my ear, but on my way home from the trip, passing familiar road signs, I knew what everyone was smiling about.

The "ASP feeling" is something you hear about but can’t understand until you're there. It’s this feeling that takes you away from reality. Everyone lives their day to day life with outside factors that can detach you from who you really are but, somehow, ASP puts your mind on vacation, as if you're sitting in a lawn chair on a beach with your toes in the water, crashing waves in the background, iced tea in your hand. It’s a feeling of reassurance that everything’s going to be okay. Being disconnected from all distractions allows you to really get to know yourself. I came back from the trip feeling like I built a relationship with my friends, God, and myself.

As kids growing up, we had no cares in the world; our biggest challenge of the day was when our mom said no to too much ice cream or our favorite toy broke in half. But since then, I’ve filled my mind with stress on a daily basis. I think that’s a big reason ASP has become something I truly look forward to. I can’t fill you in on the secret of the ASP feeling, but the reason I came back is because there’s no place I’d rather be.

Written by Sam Iller